Anne Hathaway’s Cottage, the family home of Anne Hathaway, William Shakespeare’s wife-to-be. It is here that Anne was born and raised and where the young Shakespeare would have visited her during the early part of their relationship. Built more than 500 years ago and extended over the years, much of the original survives.

Anne Hathaway’s Cottage was originally a farmhouse. It was built in 1463 and comprised only three rooms, two of which survive – the kitchen and the parlour. The first Hathaway to live in the cottage was Anne’s grandfather John Hathaway, who was a tenant sheep farmer. Anne, later Shakespeare’s wife, was born in the cottage in 1556.

When the site was a farm it was known as ‘Hewlands’ and the Hathaway family were successful sheep farmers. The garden was a farmyard with some livestock and space for growing herbs and vegetables.

Anne’s father died in 1581 and Anne’s brother Bartholomew inherited the tenancy of the 90-acre farm and he later bought the freehold. He then added an extension, increasing the size of the cottage and inserted new chimneys and an upper floor at the same time. This work was completed before Bartholomew’s death in 1624.

By the late 19th century, the family’s fortunes had declined. Some property including land and other houses were mortgaged, and eventually sold. In 1838 the cottage itself was sold, but the Hathaway family continued to live in the cottage as tenants.

One of the last Hathaways to live in the cottage was Mary Baker. When the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust purchased the cottage in 1892, Mary and her family were paid the large wage of £75 per year. Their duties were to share family stories and to care for the cottage, both of which we continue to do today. Her son William Baker occupied part of the cottage until he left in 1911.

We had a leisurely start to the day, choosing lunch in one of the cafés listed in the ‘Extra Mile’ book that seeks out foody delights as alternatives to motorway services.

We settled on Ellenden Farm Shop Café near Harvington. When we arrived, I realised that we had been there before on a day trip to Evesham. I chose a humble toasted teacake with marmalade, it was delicious.

Before checking into our hotel, we visited Anne Hathaway’s Cottage. It is quaint with interesting history and due to the weather very cold inside.

After our visit we were able to book into our Stratford hotel, The Indigo. We were warmly welcomed and shown to our room in the Georgian part of the hotel. The room was delightful with plenty of lighting options.

Rather than unpack our bags we decided to head into town, visiting a second-hand bookshop and Waterstones. In Waterstones I saw a book on Malta cuisine. I had been tempted to buy it when I first saw it after our holiday in Malta just over a year ago. I resisted buying the book at the time just in case I was having rose tinted spectacles after our recent visit. I realised I still loved the recipes in the book but unfortunately the book was damaged so once again I chose to leave it on the shelf.

Back in the hotel I had a glass of wine in the hotel bar before returning to our room for a cup of tea and a lovely relaxing shower.

We dined in Loxley’s, a pre valentines day dinner due to our Valentine’s Day ‘date night’ being in the theatre to see Hamlet. I chose chicken with pureed carrot, potato dauphinoise and fricassee of mushrooms. It was beautifully presented but unfortunately, I forgot to take a quick photo!

We had a nightcap in the hotel bar, the Woodsman where we sat in our favourite seats as we had done earlier in the afternoon.